Attachment for incandescent lamps



1940- T R. D. SCHNOQR ,2

ATTACHMENT FOR INCANDESCENT LAMPS Filed June 17, 1937 Patented Dec. 17, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to an attachment for incandescent lamps and has for an important object the provision of such a device which may be readily attached to an incandescent lamp for supporting an inflated ornamental elastic cover therefor such as a rubber balloon or the like.

Another important object of the invention is to provide such a device which is adapted to guard a lamp to which it is attached against breakage due to collision with obstructions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention such as the economy and efiiciency of constructiton will be apparent when better understood from the following description which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, disclosed a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an incandescent lamp mounted in a socket and having a device embodying my invention attached thereto and supporting an inflated cover.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of a device embodying my invention, and;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 showing the cross-sectional form of the device.

To illustrate my invention I have shown a body H which may be engaged with an incandescent lamp l2 for supporting an inflated elastic cover such as a balloon l3 or the like thereon while the lamp I2 is operatively mounted in a lamp socket In accordance with my invention the body II is preferably of annular form and includes a central web portion 2| formed of elastic material such as rubber or the like, and a flanged rim portion 22, a peripheral surface 23 of which may be crowed or curved outwardly as shown.

An aperture 24 is formed in the web portion 2| for receiving a threaded stem part 26 of the incandescent lamp l2. The aperture 24 is of smaller diameter than the stem part 26 at the root of the threads thereon so that when the stem is screwed into the opening 24 a substantially airtight joint will be formed between the soft elastic material of the web portion 2| and the stem.

The maximum or outer surface diameter of the rim portion 22 is preferably greater than the largest diameter of the lamp l2 sothat it will form a guard against accidental contact with obstructions such as may cause breakage and so that when a covering such as the balloon I3 is engaged therewith the neck or the unexpanded portion of the balloon will be held out of contact with the lamp l 2 to minimize damage by excessive heat from hot lamps.

The width of the peripheral surface 23 should be approximately as great as that of the web portion 2| and to provide means for aligning the peripheral surface 23 with the lamp l2 when assembled from either end, the rim portion 22 is extended to both sides of the web portion 2| to form annular flanges 2! and 28, either one of which may engage the lamp l2 for aligning the rim as shown in Figure 1.

To insure contact engagement between a contact button 3| carried by the stem of the lamp I2 and a contact element 32 mounted in the socket M the length of the stem 26 normally exceeds the depth of the socket |4.and accordingly the thickness of the web 2| may be slightly greater than this normal allowance so that when the lamp I2 is screwed into contact engagement in the socket M the web 2| will be slightly compressed to improve the eificiency of the airtight seal at the stem 26.

The pressure required to inflate an elastic covering such as a balloon may vary from two to five pounds gage pressure but is hardly ever in excess of five pounds and in order to effect an airtight seal against these low pressures on the stem 26 of the lamp l2, the aperture 24 need not be so small as to cause excessive binding on the stem or lateral fiow of the elastic material.

The body l is first mounted on the stem 26 of a lamp l2 which is then screwed tightly into the socket l4 after which the elastic covering may be inflated and the neck portion thereof engaged over the rim portion 22 of the body I I. The covering will remain inflated for a considerable period of time because of the airtight seal on the stem 26 above mentioned and because the engagement of the rim 22 by the neck of the covering also effects a substantially airtight seal.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts, and in the steps of the process described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the construction hereinbefore described being merely a perferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. An attachment for incandescent lamps, comprising an annular elastic body, adapted to be placed between an incandescent lamp and its socket and forming a fluid tight seal with said lamp, said body having a peripheral surface adapted for engagement in and to support in fluid tight relation an inflated elastic covering for said lamp.

2. A balloon supporting annulus having its perimeter formed for sealing engagement in the neck portion of an expanded balloon and having an integral elastic portion extending toward the center of said annulus to engage the stem of an incandescent lamp and to form a substantially airtight seal therewith by elastic pressure,

RAYMOND D. SCHNOOR. 

